1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable air cleaning apparatus for purifying ambient air in homes, offices, and other buildings. Specifically, the present invention relates to a freestanding electrically powered air cleaning apparatus that removes at least some impurities, such as dust, pollen, and other particulate matter, from a confined space.
2. Description of the Related Art
Concerns about indoor air quality are growing among consumers and in the business community. People are increasingly aware that indoor air pollution can be responsible both for short-term health effects, such as eye irritation, headache, respiratory problems, and allergies, and also for serious long-term diseases, such as chronic respiratory syndromes.
There are air cleaning devices on the market; however, most of them are non-portable, bulky, inefficient for purifying ambient air in confined spaces, and are permanently attached to existing air conditioning or heating systems. Other air cleaning devices are designed for industrial installation, which is not suitable for domestic use or independent operation as a domestic appliance in a single room environment. Still other domestic air cleaning devices lack the capacity to sufficiently cleanse the air. Therefore, there is a continuing need for a portable, lightweight air cleaning apparatus that is freestanding, provides efficient air dispersion and filter management, and improves noise control.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0056648, published Mar. 27, 2003, describes an air cleaning apparatus that has an inlet for ambient air to enter the apparatus and an outlet for purified air to exit the apparatus. A packed column scrubber generates, via the distributor, a spray of scrubbing liquor from the top of the scrubber. Ambient air enters from the lower part of the scrubber where a counter-current contact between the air and the scrubbing liquor is created in order to remove impurities dissolved or dispersed in the ambient air. The lower part of the scrubber is filled with a media of fillers or porous elements. A pump circulates the scrubbing liquor from a feeding tank through the scrubber. A blower draws the ambient into the apparatus and discharges the purified air out of the apparatus. The apparatus is distinguishable for requiring the use of a packed scrubber.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,217, issued Jul. 10, 1973 to Ebert, shows an electrostatic air filter that has a duct with an inlet opening at one end and an outlet opening at the other end. An electrode is suspended by an insulator in the duct, and a liquid flows along the inside walls of the duct downward to a reservoir. As the air is drawn past the electrode, the particles and impurities suspended therein are ionized, oxidized, and driven into the liquid flow, then washed into the reservoir. The electrostatic air filter is distinguishable for using the combination of ionization, high voltages, oxidation through ozone, and immediate separation in a steady flow of water film.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,525, issued on Sep. 23, 1975 to King, discloses an apparatus for cleaning ventilating systems of grease, vapors, orders, and smoke. The apparatus has a housing with an inlet passage located at the lower end and an outlet passage located at the upper end. The upper end is connected to a conventional roof-top fan and the lower end is adapted to an existing roof-top exit. The apparatus combines a water-cooled centrifugal extractor formed by a trough and baffle skirt with continuous water washing from spray nozzles, and an electrostatic precipitator component to remove small particles in the air stream. The apparatus is distinguishable for being used in a commercial environment to remove grease, odors and smoke from a ventilation system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,936, issued Jan. 23, 1992 to Stone et al., describes a process and apparatus for removing fine particulate matter and vapors from a process exhaust air stream. The apparatus includes a transfer duct in which an exhaust air stream passes through. A water spray is introduced into the duct where the exhaust air enters and then the exhaust air stream passes through a filter chamber where a plurality of filters separate the water from the exhaust air stream. The solid particulate matter and vapors are absorbed in the water droplets and the exhaust air is cooled before exiting the other end of the duct. The apparatus is distinguishable for its particular type and arrangement of the filters to remove the water-entrained particulate matter and vapors from the exhaust air stream.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a portable air cleaning apparatus solving the aforementioned problems is desired.